As part of a cultural agreement signed between Brazil and Poland, The Wedding Dress (Vestido de Noiva) a drama by the late Nelson Rodrigues, will be staged at The Art Studio Center in Warsaw, Poland next November.

The drama which discusses reality, digression, life and death, was directed by Zbigniew Ziembinski and revolutionized the Brazilian Theatre in 1943.

Polish actor and director Ziembinski is one of the most important names in Brazilian drama. He arrived in Brazil in 1949, leaving marks of his impeccable work. He died in Rio in 1978, where there is a theatre named in his honour.

The new version of The Wedding Dress is produced by the Pole Urszula Groska, and will be directed by the Brazilian Celso Nunes. This project is the first event of the Cultural Agreement Brazil/Poland which is sponsored by both Cultural Departments of the State of Sao Paulo and Warsaw.

Director Nunes who will be directing Polish actors, will distinctly follow the original script of The Wedding Dress, and says, "It´s very important to bring the play to Poland, the country of origin of it´s first director." The project intends to follow the original script mainly referring to scenery and costumes which were designed by Tomas Santa Rosa and to the fantastic lighting effects created by Ziembinski in Brazil in 1943.

The director´s main concern is to manage a perfect translation from Portuguese into Polish to keep up the same atmosphere reached before in the Brazilian script. To make this easier the dramatist Reinaldo Amaro Mesquita was called, and he will be the mediator between the script, translator and director.

Taking this play to Poland also forsees that this new version should come to Brazil next year with electronic sub-titles.

--By Nertutila Achao

Brazil Correspondent